What About the Red Wire?

An electrician I certainly am not, but I was told anyone can swap out a light fixture. “There are black wires and white wires. Just don’t cross them, and you’ll do fine,” my carpenter friend told me. So I took on the kitchen fixture with determination. After a few minutes of ‘I think I have it, got it, tighten here, screw there,’ I had indeed swapped out the fixture. It even worked when I threw the switch.

Feeling a new sense of DIY confidence, I figured I could handle the living room fixture as well. After all, it’s just a matter of black and white wires, right? Then I took down the old fixture I saw the now familiar black and white wires, and — what’s this – a red wire? I hadn’t heard about that. Well, how different could it be? I made the mistake of not checking with my carpenter friend, and started to unscrew with abandon. POW! Flash! Shriek! It could have been worse; I only ended up scaring myself and tripping the circuit breaker (no, I hadn’t turned it off before I started to work).

The red wire was an unexpected turn of events. What is your first inclination when you run across the ‘red wires’ of your life? Do you move ahead with reckless abandon, or do you stop to check with the Carpenter – Jesus — who is waiting to show us the way?

Margaret, age 39, Rochester

Ready For Takeoff

Why do people dream of soaring with the eagle? What makes a child dream of becoming a pilot? A desire to join the heavens has been engraved on the heart of man for centuries. It has cost the lives of some who tried early flying machines, and led the Wright brothers to invent the first airplane. Such fascination is easy to understand once you’ve passed through a room with a floor of puffy clouds, a ceiling of infinite blue, and no walls. Suddenly you are aware that the wings are not your own. Our souls can only soar with help.

God is that help, and we can trust His wings. Strangely, we have less trouble trusting aircraft governed by an agency that recently admitted it hadn’t been enforcing its regulations, and crewed by complete strangers. God’s flight, though not without turbulence, is always on time, and is worthy of our most childlike trust. Jesus said, “Anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Mike, age 32, Laconia

Feeling Lost in the Fog?

Driving in the fog at night makes you glad to be in the company of others. Headlights reach out like two-pronged forks stabbing at the darkness. Taillights follow one another in single file, fading as they go, each driver more courteous to others than when navigating in clarity, when he or she might rather own the road. It is the darkness and fog that make us so glad not to be alone. The challenge is to be sure that those we follow are leading us well, and to be aware that others follow us, so we can lead them well. This life is like fog at night, and only the sun can burn it away.

God is that sun, and he has made this foggy life for developing our navigation, following, and leading skills. We should not try to navigate without following God and seeking the company of others who follow him. Jesus said, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”

Mike, age 32, Laconia

Worried About the Economy?

While visiting a friend in the Boston suburbs I found his neighbors spending family time building a vegetable garden. It’s been a while since I last saw anyone near the city having family time, let alone making a vegetable garden. Their backyard looked like Vermont, and they weren’t even “earthy” people. This economy has a lot of people growing their own food. The sight brought back memories of gardening with my family, and learning life skills from it.

When God closes the economy door, he opens the door to deep discounts on the things we need. My friend’s neighbors are reclaiming “family” without paying a therapist, and enjoying fresh organic food without paying for the trendy “organic” label. What’s to worry about?

Jesus said, “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Mike, age 32, Laconia

Potholes

Potholes can be a lot like life. We are cruising down the road and then all of a sudden and through no fault of our own we hit a pothole and then have to deal with the damage to our vehicle. Life can be like this, can’t it?

Home appliances decide to break at the worst possible time. Vacations are interrupted or postponed due to an illness. Jobs and careers sidetracked because of a management change, a corporate buy-out or economic times – all things out of our control.

Who can we truly count on when things in life go sideways? Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone who is never failing and cares about every detail of our lives?

Here’s what Jesus said, “Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!”

Don, age 42, Dover

Celebrate Springtime

Wetland peepers start their annual springtime chorus. The season’s soft warm breezes make a rhythm in the budding new leaves.Shrinking lake ice clatters and pings like cymbals. Budding leaves and open water lure many birds, whose vocal performances welcome spring’s dawn. Music is a universal worship of life and light. After all, when a winter illness leaves us, the first thing we usually celebrate is the return of voice.

God’s presence brings such overwhelming light and life to our lives that we can’t help bursting into song over it. People debate who God is and what he wants, but the Bible tell us simply, “God is love.” It is His presence we instinctively crave. We try in vain to substitute our desires, only to wonder why our excitement always fades.

Excitement never fades in God’s company. Scripture says that when crowds greeted Jesus with loud celebration as though by reflex, a few unloving people asked him to make them quiet down. “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Mike, age 32, Laconia

The Flashing Blue Lights

Yes, I must admit, I did break the speed limit. But I didn’t realize it until the police car that had been coming towards me, passed me, and then did the dreaded U-turn. Oh, the fear that gripped me as I saw the flashing

blue lights in my rear view mirror. I rolled my window down and sheepishly asked, “What did I do wrong, Officer?” Shame and remorse filled me as the lady officer walked away with my license and registration. There was nothing I could do; I was at her mercy. But when she returned, she handed me only a warning. What relief! I felt I had been let off from a life sentence!

I had done something wrong, but I was free to go without punishment. I was shown mercy. Someone else has also allowed me to go free, even though I don’t deserve it. His name is Jesus; he actually took my punishment and died for my wrong doings. The Bible tells us, “While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Such amazing love.

Beryl, age 67, Rochester

Can I Just Buy a Simple Cell Phone?

“Why” queries my daughter, “would anyone want a simple cell phone?” She asks this while texting her friend on her pink razor phone AND playing solitaire on her iPod. “Face it,” I say to myself, “You are just getting old. And useless!”

We live in a society that not only values the latest techno-developments, but one that prizes youth and shuns aging. I’m glad that the One who patented us doesn’t feel the same way. If He did, I would surely have been discarded by now and replaced by a series of dazzling upgrades.

God prizes an often overlooked commodity – your imperishable soul. The Bible says that while “man looks at the outward appearance, the Lord looks at the heart (or soul).” Those longings that prick the skin of your consciousness from time to time for someone to know you intimately? God has hard-wired us for a relationship with Himself.

The next time you are befuddled by technology, remember that God created you to know and enjoy Him forever. Even if you can’t send text messages.

Sue, Age 51, Barrington NH

The Best Credit Card in the World

There is nothing like the convenience of a credit card. The vast majority of users handle their cards responsibly, but no matter how prudent the day of reckoning comes when they are faced with the next bill. Or worse, there are those whose credit card use has put them in a very difficult situation, one where they may not be able to see a way out.

Some cards offer bonuses in the form of air miles while others offer cash rewards, and there is everything in between. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a credit card that automatically had its balance wiped clean every month and it wouldn’t matter if the buying choices we made that past month were irresponsible or not?

Jesus has an offer just like this card. For those who ask he is always there to forgive and to wipe our slate clean, no matter what “mistakes” we’ve made and wish we could undo. God has made a way for forgiveness through his son Jesus.
Before Jesus was crucified he spoke these words “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Don, age 42, Dover